Rumor Roundup: 'For purposes of discussion only'

This week was rather light on rumors. It was also remarkably light on nonsense rumors -- only 25 percent of this week's rumors were sourced from analysts, which made it much less necessary to reach for antacid tablets every time I read through my news feeds.

Some analyst says the iWatch won't come until late 2014. These guys have enough trouble accurately predicting what Apple will do three months in the future, much less a year and a half from now. This is also typical analyst behavior: make wild claims about some supposedly forthcoming Apple product for several months, then after no proof of its existence or imminent launch appears, make up some reason why the product was "delayed" until some date comfortably far in the future. Analysts have been playing this same game with the "Apple HDTV" for several years.

Macotakara's track record is very mixed. Its accuracy is still head and shoulders above certain other Asian tech publications -- who shall remain nameless -- but the "low-cost iPhone" and "iPhone of many colors" are both tech memes that have been bounced around the rumor scene for many months with no proof in sight.

Nothing in this report comes as a great surprise. A late-2013 launch for a device broadly similar in design to the current iPad mini is what virtually everyone expects. I'm sure that Bloomberg has its "Apple's newest iPad proves the company has lost its innovation mojo" article written up in drafts already.

Nothing out of the ordinary shows up in this rumor, and indeed it seems to confirm a rumor from last week regarding how Apple will handle iPhone repairs from now on. I do take issue with this statement from the article, however:

"It should be noted that, due to the nature of the 'leaked' correspondence, AppleInsider cannot vouch for its authenticity and provides the following for purposes of discussion only."

Rumor blogs like to use this "for purposes of discussion only" cop-out all the time. Let's be honest here: "discussion" really means "page views." Coating a ball bearing in Crisco may make it go down easier, but it doesn't make it any healthier to swallow one.

Some analyst says iPad shipments are due for a decline in Apple's second 2013 fiscal quarter. There's a small problem with this prediction: Apple's Q2 2013 results were announced over a month ago, and iPad sales were up significantly year-over-year.

I don't know if this timeline error is the analyst's or AppleInsider's, but it almost doesn't matter. The reasoning behind the prediction is laughable either way, and it'll be fun to revisit (in other words, point and laugh at) this rumor in a couple months when Apple announces its Q3 results.